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I used to be a zipcar customer when I lived in Manhattan. Here is my critique.
Pros:
Rent by the hour, reserve online anytime
Price includes gas
Lots of different types of vehicles available for different needs. Rent a BMW for a fun weekend, get a minivan for a trip to IKEA.
The cars are located in garages all over Manhattan
Cons:
Weekend availability is tough. Reserve early and often. Part of the problem is that I think some people reserve cars whether they need them or not. You can cancel 24 hours in advance, so sometimes I'd see cars suddenly available on Thursday/Friday night.
Rates are higher on weekends
It always seems like you need the car more hours than you reserved it, or you are racing against the clock to get it back on time.
If you rent cars more than a few times a month, it starts to get very expensive - probably cheaper than your own car, though
I have a car on the Upper West Side and I LOVE having it around. It's not a hassle for me at all...it's actually a convenience for me.
I can afford to keep it in the garage below my building and it's very continent. I can't imagine NOT having my car. I don't use it every day, but I love it. I usually walk or drive.
I know someone whose car was broken into in broad daylight, smack-dab in front of the Carlyle Hotel (JFK's NYC pied-a-terre) a prime, gold coast location. Nothing guarantees the security of your car parked on the street.
I never enter sweepstakes that have one prize -- a car. I live on the UWS and can't imagine the nuisance of it all! Need a car? I can always rent, right?
I have a car on the Upper West Side and I LOVE having it around. It's not a hassle for me at all...it's actually a convenience for me.
I can afford to keep it in the garage below my building and it's very continent. I can't imagine NOT having my car. I don't use it every day, but I love it. I usually walk or drive.
It's nice that you have so much disposable income. I've figured that since I got rid of my car 10 years ago after living in Princeton for a year, I've save $100,000 between insurance, maintenance and parking. I look forward to an early retirement.
The only reason we got a car when we lived in Brooklyn was because we had kids. It's really a hassle trying to take a newborn on the bus to a doctor's appointment, or to take a whining 5 year old to school on the subway. If we hadn't had children, we could have lived quite happily car-free.
Oh yes, cars do get broken into in broad daylight all the time. When I was a kid we had an Olds station wagon that we swore was cursed because it was stolen 3 times in broad daylight (and we got it back every time), broken into I don't know how many times and one of those times all of our school bags were stolen out of it (we laughed and celebrated with that one).
In short, insurance is expensive, parking is a pain and having it garaged can be like paying a second rent and you really do take your chances leaving it on the street. Unless you really REALLY need it, think twice about keeping it.
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